Shelving systems are extensively used in commercial retail stores and are used to display various items and merchandises and also in storing those same items. Shelving systems take various shapes and forms and some of them are cased and/or covered, and some are used in refrigerated display cases. Conventional shelving systems use a plurality of shelf assemblies, each of which is generally made of three parts. A pair of shelf brackets is connected at opposing sides of a shelf and a pair of connecting rails is secured between the shelf and the shelf brackets to reinforce the connections. These shelf assemblies are generally permanently assembled.
One way of permanently assembling a shelf assembly is assembling by welding and/or spot-welding. Welding and/or spot-welding is not an easy way to assemble a shelf, as it requires proper tools and equipment. Also the resulting shelf assemblies have limited serviceability as individual parts are not replaceable. Moreover, because they must be assembled before used in the field, they present difficulties in transporting. Another way of permanently assembling shelf assemblies is assembling by double-sided structural tapes. While this way of assembling a shelf is easier than welding, it still presents difficulties, especially for those assembled in the field. Also, tapes' effectiveness are vulnerable to changes in the environment such as temperature and humidity and may even present sanitization problems in some applications. One alternative method to the above mentioned assembly methods is to use fasteners. However, similar to those methods noted above, this method presents assembling difficulties in that it requires proper tools and equipment, and an extended assembly time.